GOLD
by Kanto Touch This
Summary: (Sequel to Red) Dash has to deal with not just running a marathon but also the bumpy road to his uncle's marriage. Not only that, but a figure from the past reappears...
1. Chapter 1

_**CHAPTER ONE**_

The bell rings.

Desks are pushed back in the hurry to stand up, teachers move out of the way, papers are dumped in trash cans and the hallways are packed with people shouting and couples making out.

There's nothing like the last day of school.

"I didn't think it would ever come." I crumple a piece of homework and chuck it at Rock's head.

He laughs and ducks. "I didn't think you would ever pass."

I grin and punch him on the shoulder.

Melissa meets us by the doors and throws a handful of hand-shredded confetti over us. "To freedom!"

I laugh and hug her, brushing the bits of paper out of my hair. It makes a mess, but all the hallways are cluttered by now. Any kid's holiday is a janitor's nightmare.

My arm around Melissa's waist, I push open the doors and we walk out into the harsh sunlight. Kids are everywhere, now that they don't have an excuse to linger inside, saying goodbye to friends, flipping off the school building, and breaking what rules they can while they can't really get in trouble.

We start walking home. The bus would be way too hot and noisy today and besides, this way we can take our time and go to the park.

"Man, I am so glad that's over," Melissa rests her head on my shoulder. "We had, what, six finals?"

I make a face. "Don't remind me."

We both look at Rock.

After a second, he notices. "What?"

I lift an eyebrow. "You're not going to brag about how good you did?"

"How well," He corrects automatically. "And no."

We let out sighs of relief.

"Anyone could gotten that question about organic compounds."

I roll my eyes. He knows I got that one wrong. "Shut up, Dexter."

The rest of the way, we talk about what we're not going to miss about school – evil teachers, impossible subjects, disgusting lunches, clueless administrators – it makes it all so much sweeter to realize it's over. For this year, anyway.

Tanya's waiting for us outside my building, wagging all of her tails. It's still so great to see her out in the open and not have to worry about anyone seeing her. She bounds up to us, rubbing against Melissa and dropping a red and white ball at my feet.

We're still not sure what to call Nonextants. We try to avoid calling them Nonextants, because we want people to know they exist and names for individual species are kind of popping up, but nothing for all of them as a whole. In the meantime, we've just been giving them names like any other pets.

I pick up the sphere and press a button in the middle. Immediately, there's a small flash of light and my second animal is standing in front of me. I'm not sure how that works…something to do with data. Wood tried to explain it to me once.

Red lets out a little squeal and hugs my leg. Technically, he's orange – looks like a little upright salamander except for the flame at the end of his tail – but I named him the same way I named Tanya and he liked Red.

I grin and rub the top of his head. He's sweet, if a little clueless.

Rock shakes his head and bends down to pick him up. "One of these days, you're going to burn down the whole building, you know that?" Red nestles into his arm.

We keep walking towards the park. Rock and Melissa would have brought their animals too, but Red's not too good with them. Either one of them hurts him or he hurts the other one.

When we get to the park, we pass another couple of kids coming out. They opened it to the public earlier this month, got rid of the chain across the entrance and everything. It's nice that we're actually allowed to go there now, but I do kinda miss having it all to ourselves.

We sit down by our usual tree, shrugging off our backpacks. Tanya starts sniffing around the long grass, raising her head every so often to check on Red. Like I said before, he's a little clueless and she watches out for him.

Rock fold his arms behind his head. "So what do you guys want to do to celebrate this momentous occasion?"

I dig out an old worksheet from my backpack and burn it over Red's tail, watching the corners blacken and curl up. "I'm already doing it."

Melissa giggles and burns one of her papers too. "I would say we could hang out in my pool, but it's still not really open yet."

I blow on my worksheet, putting the flames out before they can reach my hand. "What, did your fish get out?"

"Nah." She folds her legs. As the weather's gotten warmer, she's been wearing less and less. Today, she's wearing a tiny yellow shirt that doesn't even cover her stomach and the shortest jean shorts I've ever seen. But believe me, I am _not_ complaining. "Tadpoles, mostly. Big ones."

"I have an idea," I wad up what's left of the paper and throw it at Rock. "How about one day where I can eat what I want?"

He rolls over and props himself up on one elbow, thinking hard. "Well…okay, one day."

I do a fist pump "Yessss!"

"You're gonna hate yourself tomorrow though."

"Who cares!"

The Joto County Marathon is next month and Rock had been training me hard ever since I got out of juvie. It's been really tough and completely exhausting, but I can't say it hasn't paid off. I'm in the best shape of my life and it definitely shows. People notice me more in school and girls flip for my muscles. Especially Melissa.

Right now, she's leaning against me, running her finger over my bicep and murmuring just loud enough for me to hear. "You are so hot, you know that? You are _so_ hot…"

I smile and kiss her forehead. "Wanna go get some cookies?"

It takes her a second to tear her eyes away. "What?"

I give her a look that says _I would so kiss you if Rock wasn't looking._

I can't figure out what her look says, but it's very…tempting.

I pull her to her feet and whistle for Tanya. Rock picks up Red again, carefully avoiding his tail and gives me a stern look. "Just to be clear, only a little bit of junk food. No binging."

I wave a hand. "Yeah, yeah, Mom."

The word creates an uncomfortable silence as they try to think of something to say. Sometimes, it really sucks to be an orphan.

We walk down to the grocery store. They converted it from the old liquor store and it looks a lot better now. It's a small store, but it's surprising how much stuff you can buy in there. I grab a couple of bags of chips and a pack of cookies, ignoring Rock's protest.

"Look, I'm only going to have a little, okay?" I tell him, handing the money to the cashier in the pink apron. "Just wanted some variety, that's all." I notice Tanya looking hungrily at the treats on the counter and I buy some as an afterthought. It's nice that they allow her and other animals in here. Ever since they became legal, Tanya follows me around a lot.

We open a bag of chips and munch on it on the way to my house. Man, they're good. I haven't been banned from junk food entirely, but Rock gives out strict rations.

"So…" I lick my fingers to get the last little bit of cheese dust. "How stuff with Whitney?"

Rock crinkles the bag as he grabs a handful. "Brittney."

_Dang. I was almost sure I had that right._ "Sorry."

"It's okay," He tilts his palm to his mouth and crunches noisily. "We broke up last week."

"It barely lasted a month..." Melissa mutters under her breath. Then to him, she says "Why, what happened?"

He shrugged. "She was really pretty, but she was…I dunno…too normal, I guess. Not adventurous. It got kinda boring after a while."

Melissa and I roll our eyes at each other. He's gone out with five people since they broke up and he flirts almost constantly. And he still has perpetual crushes on Gina and some girl from the vet's office. It's okay though, I guess…no one gets hurt except his pride when he gets turned down (which is more often than he'd like to admit).

When we reach my building, I put Red back in his ball – he's not allowed inside, not with an open flame on his tail – and we climb the stairs. Wood and Amelia aren't home, so we make ourselves comfortable on the couch and turn on the TV. There's some superhero movie on, some sister-brother duo, one's blue, one's red…it's not that bad. We talk through most of it though, and I miss a lot of the plot.

Suddenly, the door slams open, making Tanya yelp, and Wood is there, a bundle of joy and energy. He rubs Tanya's head, turns off the TV and sweeps all three of us into a huge bear hug, all in the same motion.

Melissa giggles and squirms out of his grip. "Whoa, whoa, what is it, Wood?"

Amelia steps into the room, more slowly and quietly than Wood, but her smile is just as big.

Wood straightens up and stands next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Kids, I have just received the best news of my entire life and I'm glad you're all here to hear it."

We exchange glances. "What?"

They look at each other and then back to us, both grinning wide.

"We're getting married!"


	2. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER TWO**_

Melissa lets out a squeal and springs up to hug Amelia. Rock high fives Wood and gives him a _you sly old dog_ look.

"What the hell?" Unfortunately, those are the first words out of my mouth and I can't stop them. I smile quickly, trying to recover. "That's…awesome."

They both look at me anxiously. "You're okay with it, right?" Amelia's eyes are pleading.

"Of course! It was…just a surprise." I get up too and hug her. "I mean…it just seems kind of soon. You guys have only been dating for six months." I hope that didn't come out mean.

"I know, but…" Wood kisses her on the cheek. "I didn't want her to get away."

Amelia blushes, but tries to hide it. "Besides, there have been lots of more impulsive marriages."

"I'm so happy for you guys," Melissa beams at them, picking her backpack up off the floor. "But I gotta go. I'll see you later!" She pecks me on the cheek and waves goodbye.

"Yeah, I should go too," Rock shoulders his bag. "Somebody brought a little one-legged owl to the shelter and my parents probably have their hands full." He leaves, but not before grabbing the unopened bag of chips. _Damn._

Then it's just the three of us. For some reason, it feels…awkward.

"Well!" Wood rubs his hands together. "I'd better get dinner going."

"I'm gonna go clean out my backpack." I grab it and head for my room, Tanya following. I wish Rock and Melissa hadn't left so quickly…I guess they thought it was a family moment or something, but it's uncomfortable. It's not that I don't like it – I think it's great that they're getting married, I really do! I just don't know what to say and they're expecting a big reaction.

I sigh and throw my backpack on my bed. Tanya hops up and sniffs it. She's a lot bigger than she was when I found her and now she takes up half the bed. It can be a pain to sleep with her.

I pull out my guitar and pluck a string. I haven't tuned it in a long time and it's excruciatingly sharp. I've just got the one string right when there's a soft knock and Amelia steps in. "Hi, Dash."

I look up, still tuning. "Hey."

She sits down next to Tanya, resting her hand on Tanya's back. "Dash, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" I realize I'm widening my eyes a little too much to look sincere.

She twists the ring on her finger and I notice it for the first time. It's nice, but then again, I don't know much about jewelry – my mom's ring has been missing for months. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah!" I put down the guitar. "It's just…are things gonna change?" I didn't realize I was worried about that until I say it.

Amelia looks concerned. "What do you mean?"

I shrug one shoulder. "I don't know…I mean, if you guys broke up while you were dating, it'd be kinda easy…when you're married, it's kinda harder. And what if you had kids? And…I don't know, it still seems kinda soon, that's all." Evidently, my mouth works faster than my brain. I had no idea I was worried about all that.

"Oh, honey…" She kneels in front of me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Don't you think we've thought that through? We wouldn't be getting married if we weren't ready for commitment. Whatever happens, happens, but we're ready for it. That's why we decided to go ahead, even though it's kinda soon."

"Well, I hope you guys will be very happy," I smile. "Sorry about freaking out. It's just been a long time since I had two parents."

Her expression goes sad. _Dammit._ I don't mean to depress people when I say things like that or get their sympathy…I just wish they wouldn't tread so lightly around me.

"So how did Wood propose?" I stand up and start walking out into the living room again, anxious to change the subject.

"I'll let him tell you." Her lips turn up ever so slightly, as if she's trying hard to suppress a smile and can't quite manage it.

Wood turns away from the stove and puts a hand on his chest, looking into the distance dramatically. "I rode upon the whitest steed and when my lady I did see, I then got down upon one knee and said 'dearest, will you marry me?'"

I clap, wondering how long he had been planning that one.

Amelia rolls her eyes. "Just about. He asked the band to play our favorite song and knelt on both knees and asked if I would take him."

"Everyone applauded." Wood adds, flipping a hamburger.

"What would they have done if she said no?" I flop down on the couch.

"Probably still applaud." She kisses him on the cheek.

I let out a little sigh. They look really happy together and I'm so happy for them. I really don't know why I was so freaked out. I guess it's just always been me and Wood for so long, it'd be weird to have an aunt or cousins around. And I'm still a little worried about what might happen if they break up, but that may never happen. _Gotta be optimistic_.

Wood sweeps her into his arms and they start dancing, laughing as Tanya wedges herself between them, wagging her tails.

I chuckle. _That won't be so hard._

(-o-)

I'm up early the next morning, even though I don't have to be. It's a habit now, and one I'm going to have to put up with until this marathon is over.

I slip on my running shoes, shake Tanya awake and quietly, we both make our way out the door and down the steps. After a few minutes of stretching, I start my run.

I love this time of day. During the school year, it was kind of a drag to wake up early enough to run, take a shower and still make it to homeroom on time, but I always enjoyed myself once I was out here. It's still dark, with only a foreshadow of a glow from dawn and everything's so quiet, it sometimes feels like we're the only things in the world. Not even the birds are up yet and the only sound is our footfalls and heavy breathing.

We run about four miles, maybe more, and then stop and turn around. About halfway back, we slow to a walk, partly as a cool down and partly because we just can't run anymore. The air always seems thinner and colder in the mornings, and it's harder to catch your breath.

I put a hand on Tanya's back, which is hotter than usual and damp from the dew still in the air. "What are you going to do when I have to run the marathon? I don't think they'll let you run with me, you know."

She lets out a yap that echoes slightly in the quiet air and gives me a look that says _They better!_

I laugh and scratch behind her ear.

I can hear alarm clocks going off as we get closer to our building. I pick up our newspaper before heading up the stairs, limping a little because of a rock in my shoe.

Even after taking a longer shower than usual and doing a bunch of pushups, it's still too early to really do anything. I read a couple of chapters, pace around and finally get so bored that I start making breakfast.

Ever since Amelia moved in, our fridge has been something it's never been – full. Before, we barely had enough for the next meal and now we have leftovers practically every night. It could also be because we have more money now, but I still think Amelia has something to do with it. Bachelors never are much good with food.

I make pancakes from an box of instant mix and fry up some bacon, the jumping fat scorching my hands in the process. After I'm done, not wanting it to get cold, I pound on their door and shout "RISE AND SHINE" probably loud enough for the whole building to hear.

After a couple of minutes, they stagger out, bleary eyed – no doubt they were up late last night – but light up when they see the food.

"Thanks!" Amelia sits down and starts cutting up her pancakes while Wood sticks two pieces of bacon in his mouth and crosses his eyes at me.

I laugh and sit down across from him, eating as slowly as I can just to kill time. After a while, they say goodbye and go to work and I wash the dishes and change into a nicer shirt.

Now it's about nine and I think that's late enough. I call Tanya and we both start walking towards Melissa's house. It'll be nice to hang out with her alone…Rock's usually around to help out with my training and we haven't really hung out without him.

She's out back near her pool, pulling the skimmer across the water and wearing an amazingly small bikini. I swallow and knock on the back gate.

She looks up and smiles, walking over to let me in. "Hey."

I grab her waist and pull her close, kissing her hard. After a second, I let her go, breathless. "You look great."

She blinks a couple of times, clearing her head. "S-so do you."

I gesture at the pool. "So whatcha doing?"

"Oh…" She turns and heads back to it. "Remember how I said there were tadpoles? I'm trying to clean some of them out."

I bend down to look at the net. There are only a couple of tadpoles wriggling at the bottom, but they're huge. They're dark brown, almost blue and they have a weird swirl on their stomachs. "Wow."

"Yeah." She picks up the skimmer and carefully empties it into a bucket next to her. "But I don't want to kill them, so maybe I'll let them go in a pond or something."

I tousle her hair. "You're such a good person."

"I know," She grins and stands up. "So are we going?"

"Where?" I nudge Tanya away from the bucket.

"Oh, I thought we said we were going to the beach."

The corners of my lips turn up. I know she just decided that this morning. "Why can't we just swim here?"

She lifts an eyebrow. "Well, unless you want these little guys swimming up your trunks…"

I pretend to contemplate this for a second before giving in. "Fiiine… I gotta stop at my place for a bathing suit though."

We start walking, Melissa complaining casually about her brother, me with my arm around her shoulders, giving her sympathetic squeezes every now and then and Tanya next to me, carrying a stick I guess she found in Melissa's backyard. All at once, I get this incredible feeling of happiness. Sudden realization that I am dating the most beautiful girl in the world, I don't look so bad myself, I'm getting a new aunt and I have the best pet ever. Life is just so good and I –

What.

My head twists around, but it's too late.

Melissa puts a hand on my shoulder. "What?"

"I…" I shake my head. "Nothing." We're in front of my building now, so I give her a quick peck on the cheek and run up to get my bathing suit.

I stop right outside my bedroom, leaning my head against the door and breathing hard. _Calm down, calm down. It was fast, you probably didn't see it right…_ but my heart is still pounding.

I calm down after a couple of minutes and change into my suit, grabbing one of my t-shirts so Melissa can have something to wear over hers.

She's playing with Tanya, but she looks up when I come back outside. "You okay?"

"Yeah!" I hand her the t-shirt. "Why?"

She struggles into the shirt, which hangs down to the middle of her thighs. "I dunno. You seemed really upset when we passed that jogger before."

I force a smile. "Nah, it's fine."

She looks suspicious, but leaves it at that.

The beach is about a mile away, past the gym – kind of a walk, but it's worth it. It's really just a little sandy shore with a little section of water roped off from the rest of a big lake, but it's pretty fun. By the time we get there, we're just hot and sweaty enough to want to swim. We kick off shoes and peel off shirts and I tell Tanya to stay with the clothes and be good. She doesn't really like the water anyway, understandably.

Melissa runs in, shivering and laughing and splashes me as I wade slowly and carefully. I yelp and turn on her menacingly. Soon we're both laughing and splashing each other and doing handstands and kissing underwater and just generally making everyone else there jealous. The happy feeling comes back, even stronger this time, but…

What I might have seen keeps tugging at the back of my mind.


	3. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER THREE**_

Before long, my routine slips a little bit. After a week or so, I'm getting up at seven instead of like four thirty. It's still pretty early, but it lets me sleep in a little, even if by that time the sun is up and it's getting hot.

Melissa goes camping for a long weekend and I spend most of my time at the gym – the real gym, that is, not that closed down one where I found Tanya. It's not as crowded as it usually is and at least it's air conditioned and I can watch T.V. Some days, Rock comes with me. Mostly to check out the girls, but that doesn't really go anywhere. They look a lot more at me than at him.

"It's just not fair." He peels off his sweaty t-shirt in the locker room and stuffs it in his bag.

I'm not sure whether he's talking about the college chick who was trying to flirt with me or the fact that I just did eighty pushups after he conked out at fifteen, but I don't want to make him feel worse by asking. "You've trained me too well."

He sighs. "Apparently."

I tense, in case there's more, but thankfully there isn't. Sometimes, he brings up Melissa and then it takes a lot to not punch him.

Compared to the air conditioning, the air outside is practically suffocating. I squint in the sunlight, only half listening to Rock telling me about some party he went to and how he almost scored, but didn't. At least, I think that's what he's saying. All his stories kind of run together at this point.

Suddenly, it's there again, out of the corner of my eye. My head snaps up and I see it clearly right before it's gone. I get a chill, despite the heat.

Rock trails off. "You okay?"

I let out my breath, which I didn't realized I'd been holding. "Um. Yeah." I feel weird and shaky, like an adrenaline rush without the thrill. "Can I…um… tell you something?"

He holds up his hands. "Hey, whoa, I love you too, Dash, but we're just friends."

I laugh unsteadily. "No…it's…did you see that guy who just ran by?"

"The jogger going at Mach 5? Yeah."

I lean against a car, waiting for my legs to regain control of themselves. "I remember him from juvie. He…didn't exactly bully me, but he was pretty annoying and he was _fast_. I mean, I barely ever beat him," I run my fingers through my hair. "If he's out and jogging..."

Rock squints after him. "Are you sure? Maybe it's not him. He went by pretty fast…"

I shake my head. "That's him. I remember that stupid hair. If he's in the marathon…" I swallow.

Rock hits me with his gym bag. "Hey. First of all, you know you're not in that to win. You're in that to finish. Second, you _are_ gonna win because you're a lean mean running machine and you've been trained by one of the greatest coaches of all time."

I smile and stand up, the hot car finally getting to me. "Well fine, coach, I hope I _finish_ before he does."

"Much better."

(-o-)

It is true that before I even signed up for the marathon, Wood made me and Rock promise that we wouldn't treat it like a competition. And he was right; it's not a race, it's a demonstration of running skill. Twenty-six miles is too far to always be in the front.

But he knows that I want to win and that Rock wants to help me win and deep down, he wants me to win too. Running is my life – it's in my blood, it's even in my name – and I'm good at it too, so I can't help wanting to be the best.

Jared's the only one who's ever beaten me in a race. I've beaten him a couple of times too, but he's the only person I've ever met who even comes close to being my equal. I know he might not even be in this marathon, but if he is…

I wish Melissa was here.

When I get home, I take Tanya and Red for a walk in the woods, keeping a close eye on them…it's been dry lately and I don't want to start a forest fire. We run into a couple of animals in the long grass, things that look like a cross between a flying squirrel and a raccoon, but I tell my two to leave them alone for now. I don't feel like fighting.

The heat finally gets to me, even though it's shady, and we head home, Tanya carrying Red's ball in her mouth. Amelia's sitting at the table with her suit jacket hung over the back of her chair, working on her laptop. When we come in, she looks up and smiles. "Hiya."

I smile back and Tanya wags her tails before padding off to my room. I wipe my forehead and get a glass of water, leaning against the sink to face her. "Where's Wood?"

Her smile becomes a little fixed and she turns back to her work. "Out. Getting dinner."

Something's wrong, but I don't want to pry. They've had little spats in the past, but they usually make up pretty quickly. I down the rest of the water and fill up the glass again.

"What's up with you?" Her fingers never stop moving.

I shrug. "There's some guy who's been jogging around…I recognize him from juvie. He's really, really fast and if he's in the marathon…" _I know I won't win. He'll prove that he's better than me and I'll never be the best. _"…that would suck."

She types a few more words before giving me a sympathetic look. "You don't know he's in the marathon just because he's a good runner and he's been jogging."

I sigh, putting the glass in the sink. "I know."

"I just think this whole marathon thing is stressing you out. It's incredible to me that you trained the way you did and still managed to get schoolwork done!" Back to typing. "Don't worry about it. Remember, you're finishing, not finishing first."

"But…I want to…" I say this quietly, under my breath, aware of how stupid it sounds.

I'm not usually competitive. I'm the guy who shakes hands with a big smile after a track meet and means it when he congratulates the other team. But…maybe that's because I always win. I didn't really have anything to be competitive against until this marathon. Now I'll be running with serious people, adults instead of kids my age. And maybe Jared.

I mentally tell myself to shut up and then go to comfort myself by appreciating the little things that are coming out of this marathon.

I go look in the mirror.

There's a point where modesty is just hiding the truth. I am a gorgeous man. When I flex, I have the kind of muscles most people only imagine and because I'm out jogging so often, I also have an awesome tan going. Plus, now that it's summer, it's easy to find excuses to take my shirt off.

I admire myself for a while and I feel better. Even if I break my leg the day of the marathon, I look amazing.

I also might be in love with myself, but with this body, who could blame me?

(-o-)

Melissa gets back the next day and I practically sprint to her house as soon as she texts me. Her family's all a little grumpy after being together for a longer period of time, but they like me and I help unpack the car, so I get to stay.

I'm sitting on Melissa's bed, watching her empty her suitcase alone despite my many offers to help. "I missed you." There was no cell service where she was camping, so we haven't talked for days.

She kisses my forehead. "Me too."

I fold my legs underneath me. "You look beautiful."

She raises an eyebrow and looks at me skeptically, but smiles when she sees the sincerity on my face.

Because I am telling the truth. Her hair is messed up and greasy and there's dirt caked under her fingernails and she kind of smells like smoke, but she's always beautiful, especially after days of not seeing her.

I ask her how the trip was and she lights up and starts telling me all about her campsite and how pretty it was and how annoying her brother was and all the funny things that happened. I listen intently, taking her hand and curling my fingers around hers.

"…and I'm really sorry, but is it okay if I take a shower? I feel disgusting."

I smile and kiss her on the cheek. "Of course."

She goes and I flip through one of the books from her bookshelf. She didn't ask me how my weekend was, but that's okay…she just got back, I'm sure she'll ask when she gets back. Meanwhile, I try to concentrate on the book, not on the sound of the shower and the attractive contents thereof.

In about twenty minutes, she's back, wearing clean clothes and smelling of flowers and fruit instead of fire. "Sorry," She sits down next to me, toweling off her hair. "For me, that was quick."

I run a thumb over her cheek and kiss her, hard. I have no idea what they put in girls' shampoo, but it must have some powerful pheromones.

She finally pulls away, breathless. "So…how have you been?"

There, I knew she'd ask. I tell her about Jared, sharing a little more than I did with the others because…well, after all, she's Melissa. I tell her how annoying and relentless he was when we were in juvie and how freaked out I am that he might be in the marathon and how stupid I feel for feeling freaked out. She strokes my hair while I talk, calming me down a little and turning me on a little more.

When I finish, she squeezes my hand. "Poor baby."

I lean my head on her shoulder, sighing exaggeratedly. "Life is so harrrrd."

She laughs. "Well, why don't you just stop him the next time you see him jogging and ask him? After all, he's not really mean, just annoying, right?"

I nod slowly. I don't really want to do it, but it does make sense. He won't beat me up, just maybe hurl a couple of stale insults and I'm pretty sure I can take that. In fact, in my current state, I could probably take him in a fight too. "Good idea. Thanks."

She beams and the room lights up.

We hang out for a couple of hours, watching T.V, talking, not doing much. She's appreciating being able to not have to do anything or move around a lot and I'm appreciating the air conditioning in her house.

Around dinnertime, her dad kicks me out with polite gruffness and invites me back another day when, he says, "we won't be biting each other's heads off quite so much." I head home the long way, jogging around the school and sweating into the nice shirt I changed into for Melissa.

I half expect to run into Jared now and my heart beats even faster than it is already, thinking about confronting him. I wonder when he got out of juvie and why he's jogging around my neighborhood…maybe he lives here now. I shudder.

But I reach my street without running into him, much to my relief. I slow to a walk and unbutton my shirt, feeling like a gangster and smiling at the thought.

"Hey."

I suppress a sigh. I should have been looking where I was going. "Hi, Owen. Hi, Cheryl."

They push themselves off the wall they were leaning on, looking even more stoned than usual. They haven't really been bothering me since I got out of juvie, but they're still here. "How's the marathon going?" Owen nudges their cat with his foot. It rolls over. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was stoned too –it always seems kind of…human.

"Um. It's all right." I stay a little ways away. They're not as bad as they used to be, but they could always go back making my life miserable.

"You look great." Cheryl slurs, stepping forward and managing to put a hand on my bare chest before I can step back.

"Thanks," I re-button my shirt, fighting the urge to wipe off my chest. They may be creeps, but I'm too nice to offend them on purpose. "How…how are you guys?"

"Eh," Owen shrugs. "We've been thinking about getting the old gang back together, you know? I haven't seen my buddies in a while." By buddies, he means huge guys with muscles bigger than their brains who are more like bodyguards than friends.

"Mm," I'm not sure what to say, but it suddenly dawns on me that _I_ am now pretty muscular and Owen's getting a calculating look in his eye. I take another step back. "Uh, I gotta go. I'll…see you guys later?"

Cheryl gives me what I think is supposed to be a coy look, but it just comes out weird. I turn around and walk quickly towards the door to my building, rubbing my chest with my shirt as surreptitiously as possible.

And I don't like the way the cat looked at me either.


	4. Chapter 4

_**CHAPTER FOUR**_

When I get inside, Wood and Amelia are sitting on opposite ends of the couch, reading papers and very pointedly not speaking. They look up when I come in, though not at each other.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Everything okay?" I rub the top of Tanya's head as she trots up to me, purring. "I mean…" I trail off. They know what I mean. It's weird to see freshly engaged people being annoyed at each other all the time.

They finally exchange glances and Amelia sighs, breaking into a smile. "It's just…stressful, arranging a wedding and stuff. That's all." She moves closer to Wood and kisses him on the cheek murmuring "I love you" under her breath. Wood whispers he's sorry and kisses her back.

Ah, that's better.

I open the fridge, starving after burning about a thousand calories and only consuming about a hundred. "When is the wedding, anyway?"

"That's…one of the things we're trying to figure out," I can tell by Wood's voice that he's treading carefully. "We don't want something huge, but we do want something nice." It sounds rehearsed, but Amelia doesn't seem to get mad, so I guess it works.

I find some burritos in the freezer and pop one in the microwave, my stomach growling audibly. While I watch it spin, I chew on some carrots that Rock makes me buy every week. "Am I the best man?" I ask between bites.

I'm joking, but it seems to cause whispered controversy behind me and they don't answer.

When the timer beeps, I take the burrito out and, too lazy to get a plate, juggle it from hand to hand as I make my way to my room. Tanya snaps at it when I walk through the door and I push her away, putting the burrito down on a tissue on my dresser. Then, as quietly as I can, I sneak back down the hallway, stopping just shy of the living room so I can listen to them. I know that's kind of a little kid thing to do, but I do want to know what's going on.

"…worry about it? Why does it have to be so complicated?" That's Wood. He sounds on the verge of being angry, but not quite there yet.

Amelia sighs. "I don't really know. My family wants to throw a big party…that's the way they are. And my friends, too."

"Can't you just tell them you don't want that?"

"Well, if they're going to pay for it, where's the harm? They're pretty much just picking out their own menus."

"So the whole thing is going to be your family's wedding because I don't have any?" I wince. His tone is getting bitter. "Because you have more friends than me, I don't get a say?"

"No!" She sighs again, more frustrated this time. "I just…we'll work with them, okay? But they are paying for everything, so they should play _some_ role."

Wood's silent for a minute. "I'm sorry." He says quietly after a minute. "It's only…can't we put this off a couple of months or something? It might be easier to organize with more time…"

I risk a peek around the corner and see her take his face in her hands. "Because I love you and I want to marry you as soon as I can." She leans a little closer. "Don't you want to marry me?"

He kisses her. "Of course I do."

Then he glances up and sees me and his mouth twists into a smile without a lot of humor in it. "It's okay, Dash, you can come out now."

"What?" I walk out, trying to look casual. "I was just getting a drink." I have to stop myself from whistling as I grab a bottle of sports drink from the fridge. They don't say anything. They still don't say anything as I walk back down the hallway, stopping as soon as I'm out of sight.

After a long minute, Wood says, "All the way, Dash." He's using his firm guardian voice, so I obey and shut my bedroom door behind me. Tanya's staring up at my now-lukewarm burrito longingly and I feel sorry for her and rip her off a piece.

While she's eating, I rub her ears. "Maybe I'll just let Wood run the marathon. It might be easier."

She blinks and purrs.

(-o-)

The next day, after a five mile run and about seventy sit ups, I go to help Rock at the animal shelter. I don't go there often because his parents are the type that expect to see you there all the time if you show up once. But he is my friend and some of the babies there are really cute, so I try to make room once in a while.

His mom smiles at me when I come in. "Hey, Dash, good to see you."

I smile back and pet the desk cat, an ancient feline whose name I've forgotten and who never strays far from his bed next to the computer. "Hi. Where's Rock?"

"Out back, with the dogs. They could use a walk." Then she turns to help a little girl holding a confused-looking rabbit.

I give a little wave and walk down the hallway to the dog pens, the sheer noise of the place engulfing me. There are a lot of different species and they all make their own sounds – from parrots squawking to the dogs barking to the hamster's wheels squeaking – and the whole place kind of smells like pee and fur. Still, some of the animals are so cute, it makes up for everything else.

Rock's in the back, struggling with five different dogs on leashes. When he sees me, he hands me three of them without saying a word. Of course, even if he had said something, I wouldn't have been able to hear him. These dogs are barking at the dogs in the pens, the dogs in the pens are barking at these dogs…it's amazing he hasn't gone deaf yet.

I take the leashes and allow myself to be dragged after the dogs as they follow Rock down a trail leading into the small woods out back. After a while, they settle down and he and I can talk.

"Usually, we do it one at a time – " He yanks back a dog staring at a squirrel. "But we don't have as many volunteers lately. All on vacation."

I sense a wistful note in his voice. "All right, who is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He says vaguely.

I give up for the moment. If it was important, he wouldn't shut up about it. And anyway, I'm busy trying to untangle myself from the knot the leashes have formed around me.

"Sometimes I come out here with that little guy Wood gave me." Rock takes one of the dogs for a second as I spin. "He has a bunch of ropes that come out of that bud on his back. More like vines."

I take the dog back. "Don't you have a name for him yet?"

He gives me a look.

"What?"

"Dash, we name all the animals that come in to the shelter. I have my hands full just remembering which Fluffy is which. Besides, he doesn't really need a name. He is what he is," He pauses. "Whatever that is."

I laugh. "So you're just gonna call him Plant-Animal-Former-Nonextant?"

He shrugs.

We walk a little farther. The dogs definitely want to keep going, but eventually, we drag them around and head back. I feel a little twang of guilt putting them back in their pens…I just hope they get adopted soon.

We do some other odd jobs – feeding some of the birds, cleaning out the rabbit cages – and luckily, we avoid anything to do with cats. It's weird, but I don't really like them as much as I used to. At least, not a lot of them at once. Maybe it's because of Owen and Cheryl's freaky cat.

Then, we go into the back room, which kind of serves as the ICU of the shelter. They keep really young animals in here, or ones in really bad condition…the ones that aren't up for adoption. We feed a couple of unidentifiable naked pink things milk from an eyedropper and give medicine to a hamster with a scabbed head and Rock shows me the one-legged owl he had talked about before. It's pretty adorable and doesn't seem that bothered by its injury. It hops around _hoothooting_ a lot.

"Would you be willing to do…one more thing?"

The way he says it makes me suspicious. "What kind of thing?"

He drums his fingers on his collarbone and doesn't meet my gaze. "I'm…not actually supposed to tell you this, but we have this dog who's super aggressive and we can't do anything about it. We can't keep him with the other dogs, he's that bad. He seems kind of…weird and he might be a Nonextant and since you're so good with them, I thought maybe…" He trails off.

"Maybe what?"

"I don't know…you could help calm him down, train him a little," He looks at me for a minute, then adds quietly. "We're going to have to put him down soon if he doesn't get better.

I sigh. I'm a complete sucker for things like that and Rock knows it. "Do you guys have, like, padding or something? I'm not _that_ good with animals and I'd rather not get torn to shreds."

"Yeah, we keep it by him. Come on."

I follow him out the back of the room, down a hallway where our footsteps trigger a series of loud, low snarls. I swallow nervously.

The pen at the end of the hall is covered with plywood boards that do little to mask the frantic scrabbling and barks behind them. Rock picks up some chewed armor from the floor and holds it out to me. "If he even _looks_ like he's going to bite you, come out, okay? Actually…" He lowers his arm. "Maybe we shouldn't. I really don't want to risk anything."

I snatch the padding. "Oh, shut up. I won't get hurt." I struggle into the suit, which is super heavy and feels like it's made out of carpets. I am kind of worried about getting hurt, but he's already made me feel bad about the animal and that's all I can think about now.

He stands by the door and looks at me expectantly. I nod and he opens the door with a jerk and I jump awkwardly inside.

Since it's all covered, it's dark inside, but I can still see by the cracks between the boards. The dog is mostly black, with some brown on its face and stomach. It's also got these bands of white on its back and ankles and one on its forehead that, for some reason, looks kind of like a skull. I can tell that it's kind of skinny and has the same kind of scars that Tanya had when I first got her. Right now, it's only crouching and growling, but I try not to breathe too loud, in case I might anger it.

I try to remember what I did to get Tanya to like me, but that was over a long period of time and probably because I fed her and stuff. I have no idea where to start with this dog. I kneel clumsily and it takes a step back, growling louder. I put out a hand for it to sniff, aware of how close my fingers are to its extremely sharp teeth. It sniffs once, then lifts its lip and growls again.

I draw my hand back. "I'm sorry. I'm not that great at this." I whisper. "I bet you'd rather be around your own kind, huh?"

It stops growling and looks at me curiously.

_That's just the kind of thing Tanya does._ I move a tiny bit closer. "You're not a dog, are you?"

It shakes its head and makes a weird howling noise, one that kind of sounds like a word, but not quite. "_Owwndooor!"_

I put out a hand again and it sniffs it a couple more times. "I bet you have a pack or something out there and you got separated."

It nods and makes a different noise, a sad, quiet one.

"Well, the people here are really nice, you know. And those fights – " It bristles. " – They're over with. I bet if you were a little nicer, we could even help you find your pack."

It wags its small tail and licks my hand.

I laugh and rub its head. "Hey, Rock!"

"Everything okay?" He calls back anxiously.

"Perfect!"

After a few more consoling words, I lead the dog out of the pen. It growls quietly at Rock at first, but stops when I tell it to and sits down, wagging its tail.

Rock looks at me incredulously. "How do you do it?"

I rub the dog's head. "You just have to listen to them. You know, understand them."

He shakes his head incredulously as the dog lets out a short, happy bark.


	5. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER FIVE**_

Wood and Amelia are fighting again when I get back – the kind of low angry whispering back and forth that couples do when they're around people they think don't know they're fighting. They both say hi to me in completely normal voices, but once I get in my room, I can tell it starts again.

I sigh and shut my door. Tanya gives me a look, annoyed at being left home all day. I rub her head half-heartedly. "Okay, okay, we'll go out."

I don't really want to go past Wood and Amelia again, so we take the fire escape, just like we used to when I first got her. It's still too hot to do any real running, so I take her over to the park, where I sit under a tree and watch her try to drink from a little lake – she leans over so she can reach the water with her mouth but it's not touching any other part of her. It's pretty funny, but it wears off after a while.

There's a rumble of thunder in the distance and almost immediately after it stops, it starts to rain. Tanya yelps as the first few drops hit her and steam on her fur. I take off my shirt and drape it over her back…it'll be some protection anyway. "Come on, let's go."

She tears out of there at high speed and it's all I can do to keep up with her. When we get to our building, it's already coming down buckets and my shirt is soaked on Tanya's back. I tell her to shake herself off in the lobby rather than upstairs and give her my shirt to carry. Now that it's cooled off, I think I'll go for a run. Or maybe I still don't want to hang around Wood and Amelia. I don't know.

It's actually really nice running in the rain. I can barely see anything in front of me and my shorts are clinging to my legs, but at least it keeps me cool. And it slows me down a little. I have a tendency to run too fast too soon, but I have to keep a pretty steady pace now if I don't want to slip. If I don't get struck by lightning, this could be my best workout ever.

"Oof!"

Spoke too soon.

I collide with someone running the opposite direction. My elbow goes into his stomach and his knees knock against mine. I wipe some rainwater from my eyes and reach down to help him up. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you – "

"You're on the wrong side of the road, you moron!"

Oh my god, no, that voice.

He bats my hand away and stands up, pushing his hair out of his face. It's wet and not as spiky as it usually is, but that voice and that charm around his neck…

"Hi, Jared."

He gives me a weird look, then smirks. "Hey, Daniel."

I wonder why this guy makes me freak out so much. He's not really mean, just annoying and he's never really done anything to me to make me actually hate him. But I have to actually hold my fist down so I don't punch his stupid, whiny face. "I- sorry I bumped into you." The rain's so loud, I can barely hear myself.

He just smirks more. I'm suddenly aware of my shirtlessness and feel simultaneously embarrassed and self-satisfied.

"Are you going to run in the marathon?" There, I said it.

He nods and wrings out one of the legs of his shorts, saying scornfully "Why? Are you?"

My heart sinks. "Yeah."

We size each other up for a minute. He didn't bulk up as much as I did, but he still looks pretty muscular in a lean way. I wonder when he got out of juvie - hell, I wonder what he was in there for in the first place - but this is awkward enough and I won't ask.

"How about a race?" He folds his arms, still smirking. "You know, for old time's sake."

What an ass.

I shouldn't race. I know I'll slip or he'll push me or something and if there's one thing I don't need, it's an injury two and half weeks out from the marathon. Besides, I can barely see anything in this downpour. But at the same time, I can feel my competitive side telling every rational thought I have to shut up. "Sure."

He points out a finish line at the end of the street and we both crouch. I try to get my heartbeat back to normal tempo. _It's okay, Dash, it's just like another training run. Keep it steady until you've got a good footing and then you can speed it up._

Lightning flashes a little overdramatically. Jared pushes his hair out of his face again and turns to me. "When it thunders, then we go, all right?"

I nod. That was actually a pretty smart idea instead of one of us counting off and potentially cheating. This guy's not as stupid as his voice.

It takes a few seconds, but as soon as the thunder rumbles, we take off. It's one of those long, drawn out rolls and it keeps booming long after we've started. I barely notice, though. I'm trying as hard as I can to run without slipping as I try to catch up with Jared, who's just a blurry shape in the rain ahead of me. He's being careful too, but he's still a lot faster than me. My stomach twists and I speed up. _I am not going to lose_. I splash through a puddle in my haste, making my already wet shoes soaking and heavy. I curse under my breath and keep running, pumping my arms in rhythm to my feet.

He still wins.

He reaches the finish line a few seconds before I do and smirks again between breaths. "Not quite...up to it yet….huh?"

I glare at him, trying not to gasp too loudly. "The marathon's...a long sprint, Jerry."

His face darkens, but he's too out of breath to do anything.

Something embedded within me from years of track makes me stick out my hand. "Nice job. See you in a few weeks, I guess."

He shakes my hand smugly. "Smell you later." Then he turns around and disappears into the rain.

I sit down and take off my shoes and socks - walking barefoot is better than getting blisters - and start for home. After a few minutes, the rain all but stops completely in that weird way that thunderstorms usually do. The sun even comes out and my shorts are just beginning to dry when I reach my building.

Tanya's waiting outside for me, wagging her tails and holding a towel in her mouth. I smile, wondering if Amelia or Wood gave it to her or if she was smart enough to get it herself. I scratch her ears and take it, rubbing my head dry. "Thanks."

She blinks warmly.

I jerk a thumb up towards the apartment. "They still fighting?"

She shakes her head.

"Well, that's good." I drape the towel around my neck. Guess it's safe to go up and change into dry clothes, then.

The apartment is a lot less...quiet than it has been. Usually, when they fight, there's no sound except their angry whispering and suppressed shouts. Now, though, there's the sizzle of a frying pan and music on in the background and they're both yelling over the noise to each other. It's pretty cozy and I cheer up a little.

"Hey!" Wood waves a spatula. "You didn't get struck by lightning!"

"You wish!" I throw the towel at him and duck into my room.

I change into dry shorts and pull on a sweatshirt (I'm getting a little cold after being so wet) before grabbing a book and heading back into the living room, where I curl up and read until dinner's ready.

They're much more upbeat than they have been and they seem to have worked out some of the details they were arguing about. They fill me in on the details like the date (August twentieth) and the place (some chapel, I don't remember) and who will be the best man (it is me) and whether or not I can take Tanya (I can). I tell them about Jared, but only that I saw him, not that we raced. I'll keep my shame to myself.

Afterward, I help with the dishes and retreat to my room. They're a lot happier, but they're also mostly focused on each other. Even when they were telling me about the wedding, they were looking at each other. It's pretty sweet but also kind of nauseating. And...well, it still feels weird to me. It's been great since Amelia's been living here and stuff, it's just a little alien to me to have more than one guardian, especially since Wood and I have become so set in our ways.

I wonder if they're going to go on a honeymoon. Having the house to myself would be nice.

Even though it's early and the sun hasn't even set yet, I get into bed. Sleeping is sort of essential for me to have enough energy to run as much as I do. But with the music still blaring in the other room and the dying light of the sunset shining through the crack in my curtains, I'm still lying awake hours later - around eleven thirty, according to my alarm clock.

I lay with my eyes squeezed shut, trying to breathe deeply when I hear a low, moaning sound. I smile and turn over.

A pair of huge yellow eyes and a sinister smile float inside a purple ball of vapor next to my bed. I sit up a little. "I haven't seen you in a while."

It makes its noise again and glances to its left. I follow its gaze and through the wall floats another...ghost? Nonextant? Fog? I'm really not sure what these things are.

This one's more gray, with pink-tipped tendrils that look almost like hair and red orbs around its...neck that look almost like a necklace. There's a feminine look about it and the other purple gas ball gives it a fond look.

"Oh, been busy, huh?" I wink at it. Him. I think. Then I turn to the other one, the girl. "Hi, nice to meet you."

It - she - smiles, blinks and lets out a short, but still ear-splitting, shriek.

"Ah!" I clap my hands over my ears. "What was that for? It's the middle of the night, people are trying to sleep!"

The gray ghost grins and the purple one vibrates with silent laughter.

"Yeah, hilarious," I roll back over and pull the covers up. "Your girlfriend's a scream," A pause. "Yeah, I know what I said."


	6. Chapter 6

_**CHAPTER SIX**_

It's incredibly hot and muggy the next day and I practically have to peel myself out of bed. Even Tanya, who usually loves the heat, is lying on the floor and panting. I pound on the air conditioner a couple of times and it starts up, but slowly. In the meantime, I plug in a fan and sit in front of it, trying to dry off my sweaty shirt.

Wood and Amelia are at work already, but they left me a bagel and once the air becomes breathable again, I pop it in the toaster. Glancing out the window, I sigh. The sky is cloudy again, so dark gray it's almost black and there are occasional rolls of thunder. Too hot to run and too stormy to swim...I don't know what I'm going to do today.

The phone rings while I'm chewing and I swallow before I pick up. "Hello?"

It's Melissa. "Hey, you. Wanna come over?"

I sigh again, this time with relief. "Sweetheart, you just saved me from hot and sticky boredom."

She giggles. "Gross."

"I'll be over in about a half hour, okay?"

"Sure. Love you."

"Love you too."

I hang up and cram down the rest of the bagel so I can take a shower. A cold shower, but it feels great. Then I throw on my baseball cap and my dad's old jean vest and kneel in front of Tanya. "I'll be gone for a couple of hours, okay? Be good."

She nods wearily and rolls her eyes.

I smile and kiss the top of her head.

It's even hotter than I thought outside and so humid, the air feels like a physical weight on my shoulders. It's only a couple of blocks to Melissa's house, but it's a miserable walk.

It's worth it just to see her smile.

Her house is almost cold after the heat outside and I have to bite my lip to keep my teeth from chattering. We retreat to her room, leaving the door open in accordance with her mother's paranoid law, and sit on the bed.

Melissa makes a face and pulls her knees up to her chin. "I hate that she makes us do that. I mean, we could have sex anyway with the door open, she'd just be able to see it."

I smile and wind a strand of her hair around my finger.

"Oh!" She jumps up and yelps as her hair is pulled.

"Sorry." I untangle it gently.

"It's okay. Check it out!" She goes over to the bigger of her two aquariums, the one that holds the Nonextant that Wood got her. It's a blue kind of upright turtle, a little bit smaller than Red and it's pretty adorable. Now she's reaching into the tank, grinning excitedly at me.

When she pulls it out, it looks different. The change isn't drastic, like Tanya's was, but he now has big ears and a fluffier tail.

Melissa puts him on the bed next to me, where he gurgles happily and rests his head on my leg. "Isn't it cute? He changed!"

"Evolved, actually," Wood told me a lot about this. "There's - "

"It happened yesterday," She cuts me off. "When I was letting him swim around in the pool. He likes doing that, he gets a lot of exercise and I don't know, he swam to one side of the pool and came back looking like this."

"It was probably - "

"Still, I think he's kind of cuter this way," She strokes his ears and he smiles and closes his eyes. "He's a little darker blue and I like it better."

I'm a little annoyed now. I'm not sure why...she was cutting me off, but she does that a lot, she always has. Still, I feel inexplicably irritated.

"Anyway, I'm sorry, you were trying to say something." She lays down on her stomach and looks at me expectantly.

Well, that's something, at least. Still, I was too busy being annoyed that I forgot what I was going to say. "I don't know."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." It comes out angrier than I mean it to, angrier than I feel.

Her expression becomes worried. "What's wrong?"

I force a little smile. "Nothing." Which is kind of true. I don't really have anything to be annoyed about, but I am anyway. I just...kind of _want_ something to be annoyed about.

...Complicated emotions are best left to girls.

She puts a hand on my leg. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Again, it comes out angrier than I mean it to.

Her blue eyes widen and she sits up a little. "Baby, what's the matter?"

"Well, thanks for letting me talk," My mouth seems to have a mind of its own and makes everything I say come out scathing. "Nice to know you care."

"Dash, I was just about to!" Her voice cracks a little. "I'm sorry I cut you off before, I was just excited!"

I'm open my mouth to lash out at her again when I notice her eyes filling with tears and my heart melts. "I'm sorry," I murmur, pulling her closer and wiping her tears away with my thumb. "I'm not mad at you." I feel bad...in the whole time we've been dating, we've never really had a fight and I almost started one.

She sniffs. "What are you mad at?"

I sigh, rubbing her back. "I don't know, everything. Wood and Amelia are fighting all the time, Jared _is_ in the marathon and he's much faster than me…"

She cuts me off with a long, deep kiss that incinerates any brain cells I have left. Then she pulls away and looks at me seriously. "Dash, you are the most amazing boy I've ever known and you need to chill out."

I laugh and hug her tight, the little turtle curling up between us.

(-o-)

"Oh thank god, there's a fountain! Dash, help me drown!" Wood makes as if to leap into it. "Tie cement blocks to my feet so I sink!"

"Grow up." Amelia rummages in her purse for something, not looking at him.

We're at a shopping center, not quite a mall, not quite a plaza, to look for dresses and stuff for the wedding. Being guys, Wood and I are not thrilled about clothes shopping - in fact, I only came along to give him some support.

I pull him away from the fountain as he pretends to fight. "No, let me go! It's better to die quickly!"

Amelia sighs impatiently and crosses her arms. "Can you just be serious for once? Please?"

Wood's grin fades and he straightens up, mumbling, "Sorry."

"Sensing an awkward moment, I jump in. "What about me? Can I drown?"

She fixes me with icy stare and I look down, chagrined.

Then she leads us in silence to Jasmin's Bridal Palace (pronounced 'yazmeen' according to the lady inside) and starts thumbing through the clothing rack. Wood and I sit in the uncomfortable chairs and exchange meaningful looks.

"What about this?" She pulls out a gauzy green dress with short sleeves. "For the flower girl?"

Wood looks at it, takes a deep breath and smiles. "Yeah. That looks great."

She puts it back like he hadn't said anything. "Maybe we should go for more tailor made things...that's more original. Of course, that's a lot more expensive…" She's not even talking to us anymore, just that kind of thinking-out-loud that girls do when they don't want another opinion but want everyone to know theirs.

Wood and I look at tuxes, though there's not much variety to consider, thank goodness. We joke around with some ruffled shirts that look like they're from the seventies and Amelia looks up from the racks with a little smile, exasperated, but not annoyed anymore.

"Hey, disco man, come here and help me decide whether this purple matches the color scheme."

Wood, still facing the mirror, mutters under his breath, "We have a color scheme now?" Then he turns and walks over to her.

I take off the flamboyant tux and try on a couple of jackets that turn out to be way too small for my new muscles and some pants that are way too loose. Finally, I see a nice suit that I think I would like, but it's on a hook far above my head. I ask the sales lady for help and she nods and goes behind the counter to get a long stick with a hook on the end.

From the other side of the room, I hear Amelia say, "What do you think?"

I glance over. She's trying on a wedding dress, a typical white one with long sleeves and a tight skirt.

Wood touches her cheek. "I think you look great."

She does an experimental twirl and makes a face. "I don't think so. Besides, it's too tight under the arms and I wanted a more flowing skirt."

"But I like this one!" He puts his hands on her hips. "It's my wedding too, you know."

She rolls her eyes and pulls away. "I know."

"They're all like that." The sales lady says and I turn back around. She hands me the suit. "When's the wedding?"

"Next month."

She lets out a low whistle. "Yeah, the pressure's on, huh? See, all the women - and most of the men, too - always want their wedding to be perfect and memorable and they freak out about it so much that they tend to get mad at everything, especially each other. I've seen a lot of breakups happen right here, over a dress."

A little chill runs through me.

She - Jasmin? - notices my look of alarm and smiles reassuringly. "I don't think that'll happen with these two. They're patient with each other, which is more than a lot of people are."

That does make me feel a little better and I relax.

"But you should still keep an eye on them." She winks. "Just in case."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I don't usually do this, but I was excited for this chapter. I don't really like Gold and everything I've written of it so far has been garbage, but hopefully, this marks a turning point. Hope you like it!**

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><p><em><strong>CHAPTER SEVEN<strong>_

The next day is nice. It's not as humid and the rain from the last couple of days has cooled it down so it's actually pleasant outside. I sleep kind of late, but when I wake up, I decide to take Tanya for a walk. And Red too, for that matter. They could both use some exercise.

I can't jog when I have Red with me, so I settle for a brisk walk so the little guy can keep up with me. That's better for me anyway...this close to the marathon, I have to take it easy and relax my routine a little. Less running, more sleeping, that kind of thing.

We walk along the sidewalks, Tanya gently nudging Red away from puddles and picking him up by the scruff of his neck when he falls too far behind. I smile and rub her head and she rolls her eyes. She has a maternal instinct for Red, but doesn't like it when I notice.

Our route takes us in front of the gym and, as always, Tanya's hackles are raised and Red is silent, sensing her fear. A sudden impulse comes over me and I crouch down to their level. "Hey, wanna go inside? I know," I add quickly as Tanya growls. "I know, you had bad experiences. But you're bigger now and there's no one there and I just want to show you guys there's nothing to be afraid of anymore."

Red looks uncertainly at me and then at Tanya, who seems to be considering. Finally, she lets out a small snort and starts trotting towards the doors with Red toddling along behind her. I straighten up and follow them, jogging ahead so I can open the doors.

It's cleaner inside - no, not clean. Bare. The mats and balls that littered the corridor are gone and even the smells have diminished to just a general mustiness. At least for my nose. Tanya is skulking slowly, the hair on her back standing almost straight up and rumbling a continuous growl under her breath. I touch the top of her head gently and pick up Red with my other hand. "See? Nothing here, nothing to be afraid - "

Suddenly, there's a loud clatter from the arena. Tanya whirls around, barking and Red buries his face in my chest with a whimper. My heart, having already leaped into my throat, starts beating double time. "Hello?"

"lo..?" comes back to me. An echo or someone answering?

Afraid of getting in trouble, I turn. "All right, I'm sorry guys, let's go." I'm halfway to the door before I realize that Tanya's not with me. I look back.

She's still standing ramrod straight, staring in the direction of the noise. Not barking or growling anymore, just staring.

"Tanya, come on." I pat my leg and whistle, but she doesn't even look at me. I sigh, shift Red in my arms and walk back over to her. "What - "

Still not looking at me, she takes off in a white blur towards the arena. I curse and run after her, stumbling over loose floor tiles and finally skidding to a stop on the worn concrete of the stadium.

Tanya is standing in front of a huge animal, almost as tall as I am. It's blue, with sharp-looking claws on its feet and a giant shell with what looks like guns sticking out of it near its head. For some reason, it reminds me of Melissa's pet, except for the long scar across where its left eye should be.

The creature and Tanya consider each other warily, not wanting to attack, but not wanting to be attacked either. Red makes a curious chirping sound.

"What's going on?" A figure steps from behind the animal, backlit by the sunlight streaming through a hole in the wall and for a minute, I can't see who it is. Then he steps forward again.

"Hey, Daniel." Jared smirks.

(-o-)

He dyed his hair red.

I couldn't see it before, when his hair was darkened by rain, but I can now...an ugly, orangey red that makes it look like his head's on fire. His hair's gotten longer too, but it's still shaggy and he still has that charm around his neck.

I put Red down carefully. "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?"

I grit my teeth. That question, in that voice… "I...wanted to show these guys there's nothing to be afraid of. I rescued Tanya - " I nod in her direction. " - from here. That's...what I was arrested for," It feels weird to talk to him about this. "Why are you here?"

He glances at the animal next to him. "Same reason." He doesn't say anything else, just looks back at me defiantly.

It makes sense, though. He must have gotten arrested for owning a Nonextant too, so naturally he got out when they overturned the law. And the injuries on the animal, too, that scar...it's all too familiar.

I soften my glare a little. "Tanya, it's all right." Out of the corner of my eye, I see her relax, sit down and start licking her paw daintily.

"She looks really good," Jared shoves his hands in his pockets and jerks his head to the behemoth next to him. "His scar never went away."

"She was missing some tails until she evolved." You know, his voice isn't so bad in small amounts like this.

He laughs as Red trips over his sneaker and bends down to set him upright again. "And this guy's pretty cute, too. Not as strong, though, right?"

I shake my head. " I let Tanya fight some of the wild ones, but not him."

He looks at me for a minute, thinking, then says, "Do you want to battle?"

My brow furrows. "What?"

"Do you want to battle? We both know we're good runners, but how about trainers?" He folds his arms, but not threateningly. Plus, I think he complimented me. Weird.

"But…" I gesture to Tanya and his Nonextant. "That's what got these two hurt in the first place!"

He looks down. "I know. I used to be one of the...handlers here, until I found him. I got arrested the day of the raid."

"That's the day I got Tanya." I say quietly.

He looks up again and smiles a little. "Well, I'm glad some good came out of it. Trust me, I know how awful those fights could be. But this would be smaller, more controlled...we know their limits and we're not going to hurt them."

I look at Tanya questioningly. She wags her tails. "All right."

"Cool!" His smile grows wider and then morphs into the familiar smirk. "Ready to lose?"

Oh, good, Jared's back. I was wondering who this nice guy with a heart of gold was.

He turns and walks to the other side of the floor, his Nonextant lumbering after him. It doesn't seem like it can move fast...maybe we can use that to our advantage. I twist my cap backwards and Tanya gets into a crouch.

"Go ahead!" Jared calls from the other end.

I think fast. "Um...use Roar!" I'm not sure what that does, but it always makes wild animals run away.

Tanya leaps forward and lets loose a loud snarl.

Jared's Nonextant shudders and takes a few steps back. Then, there's a flash of light and a different one appears - this one small and black, with red eyes and yellow rings on its fur.

"I got this one after I got out of juvie!" Jared shouts.

"Um...okay...Flamethrower!" That's an oldie, but a goodie. Flames shoot out of Tanya's mouth and hit the black creature, sending it reeling. Next to me, Red hops from one foot to the other, excited.

"Faint Attack!" The other Nonextant recovers its balance and starts running towards Tanya, seeming to flicker in and out of sight. Tanya gets disoriented and out of nowhere, it barrels into her, sending them both flying.

"Flamethrower again!" At a closer range, it does even more damage. A part of its fur catches on fire and it staggers, looking weak.

"Pursuit!" It dives into Tanya again, but it doesn't seem to do as much. Then the fire on its fur brightens for a minute and it collapses, extinguishing the flames as it falls. Jared rolls a red and white ball towards it and it disappears in another flash of light. Meanwhile, the big Nonextant shuffles forward.

It's moving pretty slowly, so I take the opportunity. "Quick Attack!" With surprising speed, Tanya shoots forward to slam into it. It doesn't seem to do much...she just kind of bounces off. I guess it does have pretty strong armor, after all.

"Hydro Pump!" There's a gurgling noise and a torrent of water erupts from the cannons on the big Nonextant's shell, flattening Tanya and sending up a plume of steam. When the water slows to a trickle, Tanya lies limp and soaked, breathing shallowly.

"Okay, that's enough," Jared pushes his Nonextant back and steps forward, another smirk already on his lips. "Guess I'm better at battling too."

"Hey, I got one of yours, so as far as I'm concerned, we tied." I try to sound flippant, but I'm pretty worried about Tanya.

I think Jared notices, because he fishes in his pocket and hands me something. "Here."

It's a small, yellowish whitish shard, kind of diamond shaped. I turn it over in my hands. "What is it?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure, but we used to use them here a lot. It'll wake her up. She won't be totally better, but she'll be awake."

I kneel down and push it gently into Tanya's mouth. Her eyes flutter open and she gets shakily to her feet, shaking herself vigorously and covering me with water. I chuckle and turn to Jared. "Thanks."

He waves it off. "I gotta get going. I guess the next time I'll beat you is at the marathon." He and his Nonextant start for the entrance.

I watch him go. _That smug son of a bitch._ "Hey!"

"What?"

"Smell you later!"

His laughter echoes all the way outside.

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><p><strong>AN: Let me know in a review or a PM if you think I should write a back story for Jared. (It would be called Blue, obviously.)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This chapter rated T for strong language and adult themes. No smutty stuff, I promise, I just wanted to throw that in there so I can keep the rest of the story rated K.**

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><p><em><strong>CHAPTER EIGHT<strong>_

A few days pass.

Rock goes on vacation (a cruise, I think) and promises to be back a couple of days before the marathon. When Melissa hears about that, she laughs. "Five bucks he meets a girl, falls in love and comes back with her number, but never calls her."

I grin. "Ten bucks there are two girls and it all ends tragically."

Tanya still seems a little upset at me for letting her get creamed by Jared and, for the most part, ignores me...snorting and facing the other way whenever I enter a room.

I go to the gym a couple of times and drive around the marathon course with Amelia. I've seen it before, even run some of it, but for some reason, it seems bigger now. Longer, more intimidating...I swallow nervously.

Amelia notices. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I run a hand through my hair. "Just...twenty six miles." I let out a low whistle.

"Twenty six miles and three hundred yards." She corrects with a little smile.

I roll my eyes. "Oh wow, thanks. I feel a lot better now."

I don't say much after that. I know I'm prepared and everything, but...I don't know...I want to do better than finish. It is my first marathon and it's unreasonable for me to think I'll win, whatever I tell myself. I just don't want to be beaten by Jared again. I'd settle for fiftieth place as long as he comes in fifty-first.

It takes us a while to get home. Joto is the next county over, about a half hour away, and the trip back gives me more than enough time to look out the window and think.

"You know," I break the silence. "I think I want another Nonextant."

"Mm?" Amelia lifts an eyebrow, but I can tell she's not really paying attention. "Why?"

"Well...there are different kinds of them with different, like, skills and stuff, and since mine are both fire, they can get hurt by ones who are water. So if I got one that hurt water instead, it could...be more balanced, kinda."

She glances at me this time, more interested. "I thought you don't like them fighting."

I squirm. "...No...but at least it's better when I'm there. That way I don't push them too hard and they don't get hurt."

She faces the road again. "Well, Tanya sure seems mad at you for _something._"

I feel embarrassed. I didn't think she had noticed. "That's because...there was a water Nonextant. That's why I want a different one so - "

"Where was there a water Nonextant?" Her voice is becoming harder.

"I...battled a friend. For fun." I lie. Kind of.

She lets it go, to my relief. "I would talk to Wood about it. A different one might be nice...at least it wouldn't leave singe prints on the rug."

I smile to myself and turn back to the window.

(-o-)

When we get home, I go for a jog before going in. It's only a short one, but it's so hot, I'm exhausted by the time I get back. It didn't calm my nerves either, which is disappointing. Usually running focuses the energy that would otherwise be spent worrying, but this time, my stomach was in knots the whole time. Damn, I'm nervous for this race.

I can hear raised voices as I come up the steps and I pause outside the door to listen.

"...why can't you just take this all more seriously?" That's Amelia.

"I _am_ taking it seriously!" Woods voice cracks a little. "What, I can't make a fucking joke? Okay, fine! I won't make jokes anymore!"

Amelia sighs angrily. "You know what, let's not do this now. Dash is going to be back soon and - "

"And what? He's a big boy, we don't have to keep hiding from him. I'm sick of tiptoeing around him like he's a little kid."

"He's your nephew!"

"Yeah! Thanks!" He snaps. "I had no idea how to raise a fucking kid until you got here. Thanks for the insight."

Yikes. He's cursing a lot. Something must have pushed him over the edge, he's a pretty patient guy. But if there's one thing I don't want them fighting about, it's me. I'm don't want an argument to be my fault. I turn the knob and walk in, trying to make it seem like I just got here by panting and wiping sweat from my head.

They stop talking when they see me enter and both shoot me looks. Amelia's is general annoyance mingled with sympathy, apologizing to me for shouting and angry that Wood made her shout. Wood's is more direct, daring me to defy anything he said about me being able to handle it.

Even after a second, the tension is too much and I make up an excuse, trying to escape to my room.

"No," Wood stands up, blocking my way, but looking at Amelia. "You don't have to leave just because someone thinks you're not mature enough."

"Wood, don't drag me into this..." I mutter under my breath.

Amelia's nostrils flare. "That's not what I said and you know it. I just thought it would be _nice_ if you didn't act like an _asshole_ around your nephew."

"Oh," A cold little smile plays across Wood's lips. "So now I'm an asshole."

"Wood, it's okay, I don't mind, I really do have things to do…" I try to plead with him.

He doesn't even listen to me. "So being honest makes me an asshole?"

Amelia narrows her eyes. "No, acting like an asshole makes you an asshole. Being stupid in public. Not taking anything seriously."

Wood's smile evaporates and he slams a fist against the wall, making us wince. "I AM taking this seriously!" He shouts. "Just because you can't take a fucking _joke_, this is all my fault."

She stands up too. "Well, maybe your fucking jokes aren't fucking funny!"

"And that makes me an asshole?!"

"Yes!"

Wood smiles again, faking calm and speaking in a much quieter voice. "Okay, fine. I just won't make any jokes from now on. I won't act happy in public, I won't have fun with you, we'll just have nice, serious discussions. Is that better?"

"You know what I mean!" Tears are streaming down her cheeks, but she's still yelling. "Don't act like that."

"Like what?" He's still using the quiet, pseudo-calm voice. "I'm just trying to be serious."

She throws up her hands. "You're not even taking _this_ seriously! You're acting like an idiot!"

He stops smiling. "Well, what the hell do you want me to do?!"

"Stop acting like this!"

"Like what?"

"That!" She gestures at him. "Jesus, act your age!"

His face has gone completely red and veins are popping out on his neck. "Why the hell should I?!"

She closes her eyes and screams "BECAUSE I'M FUCKING PREGNANT, YOU ASS!"

For a second, he looks shocked, completely taken aback. Then his face clouds over and becomes angry again. "Well, gee, thanks for telling me before!"

"Don't you think I've been trying to?!" Her sentence ends in a high-pitched shriek.

I take a step back. Then another. Then I turn and do the only thing I know how to do.

I run.

(-o-)

I don't cry.

Maybe because I don't want people on the street to see me sobbing or maybe because I'm not upset enough. But my throat is all closed up and my chest is tight and it's really hard to breathe, especially as I'm running. Somehow, my feet lead me to the park and I flop down under a tree, struggling to take in ragged breaths.

_Why did I run?_ I drag a hand through my hair. It was a stupid thing to do, like a little kid running away from home and it probably only made their argument worse - I could practically hear them blaming each other for scaring me away.

Still...I couldn't stay there.

After a couple of minutes I get up and walk around, trying to breathe more normally. I don't want to run into any wild animals and I don't really want to stay here anyway, so I jog all the way down to the lake. It's closed now, but I skip a few rocks and watch the ladybugs buzz around, seeming to almost light up in the dying sunset.

"I don't want them to break up." I say out loud. Again, I feel like a little kid for saying it and glance around, making sure no one heard me.

I really don't though. Want them to break up, that is. Amelia's been really nice to me and she and Wood really love each other. And Wood...well, he's been on dates before, when I was too young to understand what was really going on, but none of them ever stayed. Amelia was the first real relationship I ever remember him being in.

...It's also the happiest I ever remember him being.

And if they break up...well, what will happen to him? He'd probably break down. And now there's a baby in the picture…

I curse under my breath and kick some sand.

I stay there until the sun sets, a couple of hours maybe, throwing rocks and breaking twigs and trying to get rid of the little buzz of nerves in my chest. I think a lot too, about Wood and Amelia, about Tanya, about me and Melissa, trying to sort out every confusing thing in my mind at once. It's really pretty out here and after a while, I can feel the pressure on my chest slowly dissolve.

I head back at a walk, speeding up towards the end as it starts to get darker. I take a deep breath when I get to my building and the buzzing in my chest starts again as I go up the stairs. What if they're still at it? What if they're mad at me now? What if…

What if she left?

When I open the door, it's dark inside. Wood's alone on the couch, but I can see Amelia's sweater on the kitchen counter, so at least she's not gone for good.

I close the door quietly and move towards my room. Wood looks like he's asleep, so maybe I can just sneak off without being -

"Dan?"

- noticed.

I sigh and turn around. "Yeah?"

"Why am I such an idiot?"

The words are slurred and the air smells stale and I catch on. I reach to turn on a lamp behind him.

In the dim light, I can see the cans scattered around him, his messed up hair, his disheveled clothes. He squints and brings his hand up to shield his eyes from the light. I didn't know I was gone long enough for him to get drunk, but apparently I was. It's nothing new to me...as a little kid, I just thought he was sick and the beer was medicine. I'd usually put a blanket on him and he'd fall asleep pretty much right away. He hasn't done it recently though...this is the first time in like five years.

"You okay?" I try to make eye contact, but he keeps looking down.

"Why am I such a friggin' moron…" He puts a hand over his face.

I start to pick up the cans, noticing a couple are almost completely flattened. I hope they're the only thing he took his anger out on. "Where's Amelia?"

He waves a hand clumsily. "She wen' out. I dunno."

I dump the cans in the trash. No sense recycling ones with knuckle indentations. "Is she okay?"

"No..."

My blood runs cold for a second. "You didn't hit her, did you?"

He looks up, eyes wide. "What? No! I wouldn'!"

My heart starts beating again. "I know. Sorry."

He puts his head in his hands again. "But I jus' kept screamin' at her…" He lets out a muffled sob.

I shift uneasily from one foot to the other, feeling uncomfortable as I hear him cry - not little sobs either, loud, drunken, snot-filled moans. After a couple of minutes, I get a tissue box and offer it to him, hoping he's sober enough to wipe his nose himself.

He doesn't take it, but looks at me with red-rimmed eyes. "What kind of father would I be?" The words come out in a hoarse whisper.

"You raised me," I sit down next to him, putting the tissue box on his lap. "I turned out pretty good."

He half-smiles. "You raised yourself. I didn' do anything."

This is kind of true, but I don't say anything, concentrating on not making a disgusted face. His breath smells terrible.

He stares into space. "She didn' tell me. 's not fair." He sniffs loudly and wipes his nose on his sleeve, completely ignoring the tissues. "And now she's gone and 's all my fault…" His voice cracks and his lips tremble.

"She's not gone," I break in hurriedly, hoping he won't burst into tears again. "She's coming back, you know that."

"An' wha's she gonna find? Me completely shitfaced," He tries to smooth down his hair, but only makes it worse. "She's gonna leave me an' she's so right…"

"She's not going to leave you," I use my firm voice and hoist him into a standing position. "She has to come back at some point. And when she does, what are you going to do?"

He stumbles a couple of steps before regaining his balance and looking at me. "Tell her I'm sorry. That I'm gonna change," He breaks into a silly grin. "That we're not namin' the baby after me."

I smile a little, mostly to humor him. "Good. Woodrow is a terrible name for anybody."

He makes a face at me.

I fold my arms. "Now go brush your teeth and take a shower so you don't smell like booze and try to sleep this thing off. I'll wait up for Amelia and talk to her."

"Mmkay, Sam."

He wanders off towards the bathroom and I start cleaning up the couch, trying to conceal my shock.

He called me by my father's name.


End file.
